Traditionally there has been a pretty clear separation between the projects worked on by motion capture actors and Hollywood talent. Many Hollywood actors feel that video games are beneath them due to the social stigma associated with the medium along with the general lack of quality writing in video games.

In an excellent interview with VG247, The Last of Us‘ creative director Neil Druckmann commented on how much easier it is to find actors eager to take on virtually interactive roles ever since the Uncharted titles were lauded with such abundant praise and awards:

From our standpoint, the Uncharted games won a bunch of awards for performance and story. It just opens doors to more talent, and we’ve noticed that we’re able to find more and more actors who want to do video games.

This warm reception is critical, and absolutely necessary to convince actors that video games can be worth their time, and a valuable pursuit for their careers in the long run. But, no prestigious actor is going to tackle a script whether for a video game or otherwise if it isn’t good to begin with. Luckily, Druckmann feels that the industry is moving in the right direction:

I think as the material becomes more and more sophisticated and as the characters become more interesting, that there’s a certain draw there. Even now there are certain actors that won’t come near it because there is a certain stigma to games, but I think that’s mainly going away.

Games like Uncharted, Mass Effect, The Walking Dead, and Heavy Rain are all taking noticeable strides towards mainstreaming interactive story-telling, and paving the way for actors like Ellen Page to take the lead role in Beyond: Two Souls.

Do you feel like we’re going to start to see bigger name actors in video games sooner rather than later?